Apparatus and method of location determination in a thermal imaging system

ABSTRACT

A camera assembly, including: an enclosure having at least two mounting surfaces that are orthogonal to each other for alignment with at least two orthogonal surfaces against which the camera assembly is to be mounted; at least one imaging apparatus disposed within the enclosure and having a predetermined orientation with respect to the enclosure; and a communication device disposed within the enclosure; and a server disposed at a location remote from where the camera is mounted. The camera assembly and the server communicate over a computer communication network to identify at least one mounting measurement of the camera assembly to establish a mapping from an image coordinate system for images generated by the imaging apparatus and a real world coordinate system aligned with an orientation defined by the at least two orthogonal surfaces.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application has divisional applications filed on Oct. 30,2017 and assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/797,693 and Ser.No. 15/797,999. The present application relates to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/643,059, filed Jul. 6, 2017 and entitled“Imaging Apparatuses and Enclosures”, which claims the benefit of thefiling date of Prov. U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 62/408,615, filed Oct. 14,2016 and entitled “Imaging Apparatuses with Enclosures”, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

At least some embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to a thermalimaging system in general and more particularly but not limited tolocation determination and size measurement in the thermal imagingsystem for object recognition and surveillance.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2015/0377711, entitled “Apparatus and Method forElectromagnetic Radiation Sensing”, discloses an apparatus for thermalimaging based on infrared (IR) radiation. Such an apparatus can be usedfor human detection, fire detection, gas detection, temperaturemeasurements, environmental monitoring, energy saving, behavioranalysis, surveillance, information gathering and for human-machineinterfaces. Such an apparatus and/or other similar apparatuses can beused in embodiments of inventions disclosed in the present application.The entire disclosure of U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2015/0377711 is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which like referencesindicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows a thermal imaging system according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method to measure mounting configuration parametersof a thermal imaging camera according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a user interface to obtain a user input to determine amounting height of a camera according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 4-6 illustrate a process of one embodiment to establish a locationmapping between a thermal image obtained by a camera and an environmentin which the camera is installed.

FIG. 7 illustrates the layout of an environment of a thermal imagingcamera overlaid on a thermal image generated by the camera according toone embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates an application of a location determination systemaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a thermal camera assembly having an enclosureinstalled in a room having an occupant.

FIG. 10 shows a thermal camera assembly having an enclosure mounted onan edge of two orthogonal walls.

FIG. 11 shows a back top-down view of the enclosure illustrated in FIG.10 .

FIG. 12 shows a thermal camera assembly having an alternativeorientation mark.

FIG. 13 illustrates a thermal camera assembly with the base face of theenclosure being removed.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show a thermal camera assembly having a replaceablebattery unit on its bottom corner.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show thermal camera assemblies having alternative shapesfor their base faces.

FIG. 18 illustrate geometrical relations among the mounting positing ofan enclosure, the orientation of the optical axis of an imagingapparatus housed within an enclosure, the field of view of the imagingapparatus, and the space within the room that can be captured in imagesobtained from the imaging apparatus housed within the enclosure.

FIG. 19 shows an installation process of an imaging system according toone embodiment.

FIG. 20 shows a data processing system that can be used to implementsome components of embodiments of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding. However, in certain instances, wellknown or conventional details are not described in order to avoidobscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in thepresent disclosure are not necessarily references to the sameembodiment; and, such references mean at least one.

At least some embodiments disclosed herein provide a user friendly wayto determine the installation configuration of a thermal imagingassembly, based on the thermal images captured at the time of thecalibration of the thermal imaging assembly in a thermal imaging systemand user inputs provided in connection with the thermal images. The userinputs train the thermal imaging system to gain knowledge about theenvironment in which the thermal imaging assembly is installed andconfigured to monitor. The configuration parameters and the knowledgeabout the environment are used subsequently to interpret the imagesobtained at a time of monitoring service and generate monitoringoutputs, such as identifying the presence, location, and/or activitiesof humans, telling adults, children, and pets apart, etc.

For example, the user may provide the height of a person (e.g., theuser) detectable in the thermal images during theinstallation/calibration of the thermal imaging system to allow thesystem to compute a mounting height of the thermal imaging assembly.Other user inputs may include an indication of the time instance whenthe user is at a point of interest (POI) (e.g., room corner, door),identification of a POI, etc., to allow the system to learn thelocations of the POI in the imaging coordinate system, where the POI maynot be visible or recognizable from the thermal image directly.

During the installation/calibration, the system may instruct the user toperform activities, such as walking away or to the camera, going to apoint of interest, walking along a path way in an area monitored by thecamera, walking in an area heavy for foot traffic, etc. The useractivities generate thermal images from which the system learns thegeographical configuration of the monitored environment.

Based on the user inputs and/or the thermal images collected during theinstallation/calibration, the system computes configuration parameters,such as the mounting height of the thermal imaging assembly, a ratio ormapping between a size in the image and a size of a person/object in themonitored area, and the identification of POIs in images captured by thethermal camera. The system bookmarks the locations, paths, and/or areasof interest as knowledge about the environment in which the thermalimaging assembly is installed and configured to monitor.

For example, a mobile application is configured in one embodiment to askthe user to enter the height of the user captured in a thermal imagepresented on the mobile application. Once the mobile application detectsthe user in the image, the application may instruct the user to performan act, such as entering the height of the user, or going to a point ofinterest, such as a corner of the room, a door or window of the room,etc. The mobile application (or a remote server) extracts locationand/or size data from the thermal images of the user performing the actand correlate the instruction and/or optional input from the user todetermine configuration parameters, such as the mounting height of thethermal camera, the location of the point of interest in the thermalimage coordinate system, a location mapping between the thermal imagecoordinate system and a coordinate system aligned with the room, a sizemapping between the object sizes measured in the thermal imagecoordinate system and the real world object sizes in the room coordinatesystem.

FIG. 1 shows a thermal imaging system according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 1 , the thermal imaging system includes a thermal cameraassembly (101) and a server (113) that processes the thermal imagescaptured by the thermal camera included in the thermal camera assembly(101) and provides services based on the thermal images.

In FIG. 1 , the thermal camera assembly (101) communicates the thermalimages to the server (113) via a wireless access point (111) and acomputer network (115) (e.g., a local area network and/or the Internet).A mobile device (117), such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, or a personal media player, has a mobile application installedtherein to communicate with the thermal camera assembly (101) and/or theserver (113) for the calibration, setup, and/or the usage of the thermalimaging system.

In some instances, the thermal camera assembly (101) communicates theraw footage (e.g., via a wireless connection or a wired connection) tothe mobile device (117) and/or the server (113) without performing anyimage processing within the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly(101). A host device (e.g., the mobile device (117) or another computerin the room (109), or in the vicinity of the room (109)), or the server(113) that is remote to the installation site, performs image processingto provide the user interfaces and/or compute configuration parameters,as discussed below in detail. In some instances, the server (113) isimplemented using the cloud computing third-party service provided viaserverless architectures.

In FIG. 1 , the thermal camera assembly (101) is mounted at a locationin an environment, such as a room (109), that is being monitored by thethermal camera assembly (101).

Preferably, the thermal camera assembly (101) is mounted on a verticaledge (119) where two walls (171 and 172) of the room (109) meet eachother, a horizontal edge (102 or 104) where a wall (e.g., 171 or 172)and the ceiling of the room (109) meet each other, or a corner (174) ofthe room (109) where two walls (171 and 172) of the room (109) meet theceiling of the room (109). Alternatively, the thermal camera assembly(101) may be mounted at other locations, such as on a location on asurface of a wall (e.g., 171 or 172) or ceiling, or any arbitrary placewithin the scenery. For example, the thermal camera assembly (101) canbe configured to be mounted on the ceiling of a room for top-downmonitoring; and the thermal camera assembly (101) may be mounted onand/or with holders and/or devices, such as IP camera, passive infraredsensor (PIR), etc.

Preferably, the thermal camera assembly (101) has an enclosure orhousing that has surfaces adapted to be aligned with the surfaces ofwalls (e.g., 171 or 172) and/or the ceiling of the room (109). Thus, thealignment of the orientation of the thermal camera assembly (101) withrespect to the vertical direction and the horizontal direction can beeasily achieved by pressing two or more mounting surfaces of theenclosure or housing of the thermal camera assembly (101) against theflat surfaces of the wall(s) (171, 172) and/or the ceiling of the room(109).

For example, the external mounting surfaces of the enclosure or housingof the thermal camera assembly (101) of one embodiment have pre-appliedadhesive materials covered with protection strips that can be peeled offto reveal the adhesive materials for mounting. When the enclosure orhousing of the thermal camera assembly (101) is pressed against the edge(119) or corner (174) at the mounting location, the mounting surfaces ofthe enclosure or housing of the thermal camera assembly (101) alignwith, and adhere to, the surfaces of the wall(s) and/or ceiling. Thealignment of the mounting surfaces of the enclosure or housing with thewall and/or ceiling surfaces results in the alignment of the thermalcamera assembly (101) with respect to the horizontal and/or verticaldirections in the room (109).

In some instances, the enclosure or housing of the thermal cameraassembly (101) is fixedly attached to the mounting location viaelements, such as nails, screws, etc.

When the thermal camera assembly (101) is mounted in the room (109) withproper horizontal and vertical alignment, the camera in the assembly(101) has a known orientation with respect to the orientation of theroom (109). However, the mounting height (123) (e.g., the verticaldistance from the floor (127) to the thermal camera assembly (101)) isnot yet known to the imaging system.

The mounting height (123) may be measured (e.g., using a measuring tape)and provided to the system via a user interface, such as a graphicaluser interface provided by a mobile application running on the mobiledevice (117). In some instances, the orientation of the thermal cameraassembly (101) can be determined automatically from tilt sensors and/orother sensors (e.g., a set of accelerometers and/or a set of magneticsensors).

Alternatively, when the thermal camera assembly (101) has two camerasmounted within their enclosure (or adjacent room corners) with a knowndistance to each other, the server (113) can use a stereoscopic visionprovided by the cameras to determine the mounting height a stereoscopicview of one or more reference object(s).

Alternatively, when the thermal camera assembly (101) has a distancemeasurement sensor that measures a distance based on the time of flight(TOF) of a signal, the thermal camera assembly (101) can measure itsmounting height from the floor plane (127) automatically. The TOF can bemeasured based on ultrasonic signs, or radio frequency signals.Alternatively, the mounting height may be measured via barometric and/ormotion sensors. In some instances, the thermal camera assembly (101)includes sensors and/or devices, such as GPS receivers to the determinedthe location of the thermal camera assembly (101), magnetic sensors fordetermine the orientation of the thermal camera assembly (101) relativeto the magnetic field of the Earth, light and/or audio devices forprovide visual and/or audio feedback and/or alerts, air qualitymonitoring devices, etc.

In a preferred embodiment, the imaging system determines the mountingheight based on measuring the size of a reference object (131) in athermal image and receiving an input of the real world size of thereference object.

For example, the reference object (131) in FIG. 1 has a top point (106)and a bottom point (105) that are captured in the thermal imagegenerated by the thermal camera assembly (101). The thermal image of themonitored area illustrated in the projected image plane (103) has animage (133) of the reference object (131) with a corresponding top point(108) and a corresponding bottom point (107). A measurement of the sizeof the image (133) of the reference object (131) and an inputidentifying the real world size of the reference object (131) can beused to compute the mounting height (123), as further discussed below inconnection with FIG. 2

For example, the reference object (131) can be the person installing,calibrating, and/or setting up the thermal camera assembly (101), oranother person in the monitored area of the room (109); and the heightof the person is the real world size of the reference object (131) inthe computation of the mounting height (123). Such an approach greatlysimplifies the process to calibrate and/or set up the thermal imagingsystem.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method to measure mounting configuration parametersof a thermal imaging camera according to one embodiment. For example,the method of FIG. 2 can be used to determine the mounting height of thethermal camera assembly (101) of the image system illustrated in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 2 , the camera at the mounting location (121) has a determinedmounting angle (125) with respect to its housing or enclosure that isaligned with the room coordinate systems. The measurement of sizes inthe captured thermal image is performed in a predetermined projectedimage plane (103), or image coordinate system, that corresponds to apredetermined mounting height (122) that has a fixed geometricalrelation with respect to the image plane (103), as defined by themounting angle (125). The predetermined mounting height (122) can beconsidered a reference mounting height from the reference floor (126);and a reference height (130) in the vertical direction is projected tohave an image (133) in the projected image plane (103).

In FIG. 2 , when the real world reference object (131) has the same sizeas the image (133) in the imaging plane (103), the ratio between thereference height (130) and the height of the real world reference object(131) is the same as ratio between the reference mounting height (122)and the real world mounting height (123) to the floor (127) on which theobject (131) stands. Thus, the reference mounting height (122) can bescaled up to obtain the real world mounting height (123) based on theratio between the reference height (130) and the height of the realworld reference object (131). The reference height (130) can bedetermined from the size and location of the image (133) and themounting angle (125) of the camera.

In one implementation, from the mounting angle (125), the referencemounting height (122), and the size and location of the image (133), aformula is derived to compute the reference height (130). The ratiobetween the height of the reference height (130) and the height of thereal world reference object (131) can be used to scale the referencemounting height (122) to the real world mounting height (123).

In another implementation, the thermal camera assembly (101) is mountedin a reference room at a reference height (122). References of objects(e.g., 130) of different heights are positioned at the location of theobject (130) illustrated in FIG. 2 to obtain images (e.g., 133) ofdifferent sizes and thus establish a mapping between the referenceheights and the image sizes. When the real world object (131) generatesan image size at the location in the image plane (103), the mapping canbe used to look up the reference height (130) in the reference room. Thereference mounting height (122) can then be scaled to the real worldmounting height (123) to the floor (127) according to the ratio betweenthe reference height (130) looked up from the mapping according to thesize of the image (133) and the height of the real world referenceobject (131) that generates the image (133) of the same size in theimage plane (103).

In one embodiment, the camera in the thermal camera assembly (101) has alimited field of view. For example, in FIG. 2 , the camera may not beable to capture the area that is closer to the edge (119) than the line(129). Thus, when the object (131) generates image (133) that borders onthe boundary of the image frame, the system may not be able determinewhether the image captures the entire object (131). Thus, the mobileapplication running in the mobile device (117) may provide instructionsto move the object (131) such that the image (133) leaves the boundaryof the image frame and the image (133) does not have pixels at theboundary of the image frame. As soon as the image (133) leaves theboundary, the system captures an image (133) of the object (131) anddetermines the reference height (130) that generates the same image sizeat the location.

In general, the mobile application may provide a display of the thermalimage captured by the thermal camera assembly and provide instructionsto guide the movement of the object (131) to a specific location in theroom such that the object (131) is shown to be standing in a particularlocation in the thermal image. The size of the object (131) in the imageis then used in combination with the real world size of the object (131)to compute the mounting height (123).

FIG. 3 shows a user interface to obtain a user input to determine amounting height of a camera according to one embodiment. For example,the user interface of FIG. 3 can be implemented on the mobile device(117) in the thermal imaging system of FIG. 1 to compute the mountingheight using the method of FIG. 2 .

In FIG. 3 , after the thermal camera assembly (101) is mounted at themounting location (121), the camera is configured to establishcommunications with the server (113) and/or the mobile device (117) toprovide a thermal image of the monitored area of the room (109) fordisplay on the mobile device (117). The thermal image (141) presented onthe mobile device (117) (e.g., using a mobile application running in themobile device (117)) has a thermal image (133) of an object (131) in theroom (109) that has a temperature significantly different from the roomtemperate. For example, the object (131) is a person in the room (109),such as the installer or owner of the thermal camera assembly (101), oranother person in the monitored area of the room (109). The userinterface requests the user of the mobile device (117) to enter the realworld height of the object (131) (e.g., a person) identified in thethermal image (141).

In some instances, when the thermal image (141) captures the thermalimages of multiple objects, the user interface allows the user of themobile device (117) to select an object (131) and specify the height ofthe selected object (131).

The thermal imaging system is configured to measure (e.g., by the mobileapplication running in the mobile device (141), the server (113), or thethermal camera assembly (101)) the height (137) of the thermal image(133) in an image coordinate system (139).

In some instances, the thermal imaging system is configured to measurethe height (137) when the thermal image (133) is at a specific locationin the image coordinate system (139) (e.g., when the thermal image (133)of the object (131) stands at a specific location in the imagecoordinate system (139)). In such implementations, the user interfacemay provide instructions to guide the movement of the object (131) suchthat the thermal image (133) stands at the specific location marked inthe image (141) presented on the mobile device (117).

In other instances, the thermal imaging system can measure the height(137) to compute the mounting height (123) using the height (143)provided by the user of the mobile device (117), without requiring theobject (131) to go to a specific location, as long as the thermal image(133) of the object is captured in the image (141) in entire (e.g., noportion of the object (131) is located in a blind spot of the thermalcamera assembly (101)).

In some instances, the mobile device (117) instructs the user to movethe object (131) (e.g., the user) around in the room, such that theheight (137) of the thermal image (133) of the object (131) can bemeasured in a plurality of different locations to compute the mountingheight (123) from the measurement of the corresponding locations. Thecomputed results of the mounting height (123) can be combined (e.g.,from an average of the results, or a weighted average the results) forimproved accuracy.

After the mounting height (123) is determined, the thermal imagingsystem can map the coordinates in the image coordinate system (139) (ofpoints with known or inferred height) to the coordinates in the room(109).

FIGS. 1-3 discussed the measuring of the mounting height of a thermalcamera (imaging based on IR radiation). The technique can also besimilarly extend to the determination of the mounting height of a camerathat images based on lights that are visible to human eyes.

While an image of the room (109) captured based on visible lights mayshow features of the room (109) that can be used to automaticallydetermine the layout of the room (109) (e.g., the floor boundaries andthe location of points of interest, such as the door, window,furniture), a thermal image of the room (109) typically does not havesufficient features that can be used to identify the layout of the room(109), even to a human, especially when the thermal image has a lowresolution to protect the privacy of the occupants of the room (109).

FIGS. 4-6 illustrate a process of one embodiment to establish a locationmapping between a thermal image obtained by a camera and an environmentin which the camera is installed. The process of FIGS. 4-6 can be usedin the thermal imaging system of FIG. 1 , in combination with the methodand the user interface of FIGS. 2 and 3 to determine the mounting heightof the thermal camera assembly (101).

In FIGS. 4-6 , the system is aware of the fact that the object (131) isstanding on the floor (127) of the room (109). Thus, one end (151) ofthe thermal image (133) identifies the location on the floor (127) wherethe object (131) stands. The mobile device (117) provides theinstructions (145) to move the object (131) to various points ofinterest in the room (109) such that the system can bookmark thecorresponding locations in the image coordinate system (139) to generatea layout of the room.

For example, in FIG. 4 , the user of the mobile device (117) is thereference object (131); and the mobile device (117) instructs the userto walk to the diagonal corner of the room (109) such that the locationof the diagonal corner on the floor (127) can be marked at the location(151) in the image coordinate system (139).

For example, the mobile device (117) may instruct the user to provide anindication when the user is at the diagonal corner, such as by a gestureinput generated by shaking the mobile device (117), a voice confirmationprovided to the mobile device (117), a press of a predetermined buttonon the mobile device (117), tapping a user interface element presentedon the touch screen of the mobile device (117), remaining standing stillat the corner for a period of time, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates a scenario of instructing the user to walk to anothercorner of the room to bookmark the corner location (153). The mobiledevice (117) overlays the locations that have identified in the imagecoordinate system (139) and bookmarked on the image (141) (e.g., to showthe progress of the mapping out the layout of the room (109)).

FIG. 6 illustrates a scenario of mapping out the location (155) of thedoor of the room (109). For example, the mobile application running themobile device (117) may instruct the user to move to a point of interestand then name the point of interest (e.g., door) via a voice input, atext input, a selection from a list, etc. Alternatively, the mobileapplication has a list of points of interest (e.g., door, window, desk,chair, TV, fireplace, stove) and asks the user to identify the locationsby walking to the locations. For example, the mobile application may askthe user to walk around areas that are accessible by working to identifythe floor areas that would have foot area traffics. For example, themobile application may ask the user to turn on stove to detect thethermal image of the stove and its location, and turn on TV, open therefrigerate, etc. to detect the appearance of the corresponding items(e.g., stove, TV, refrigerate) in the monitored thermal images due tothe change of their temperature as a result of the user actions and thustag the items in the image coordinate system (139). In another example,the system may ask the user: “A 200 degree C. hot-spot is detected. Isit a stove?” If the user responds with an indication of “yes”, thesystem stores information to associate with the hot-spot with theidentification of the particular object (“stove”); otherwise, the systemmay provide an emergency alert for the unexpected hot-spot. In someinstances, the system monitors the temperature range and/or size of aknown hot-spot (e.g., “stove”); if the detected temperature and/or sizeis beyond a normal range or size, the system provides a feedback oralarm (e.g., a voice alert of “the stove starts burning”).

The locations of points of interest mapped out using the processillustrated in FIGS. 4-6 can be used to construct a layout of the room(109) that is being monitored by the thermal camera assembly (101), asillustrated in FIG. 7 .

FIG. 7 illustrates the layout of an environment of a thermal imagingcamera overlaid on a thermal image generated by the camera according toone embodiment.

In FIG. 7 , the lines (135) overlaid on the thermal image (141) (e.g.,with a resolution of 160×60 IR sensing pixels). The lines of the roomlayout can be constructed by connecting points of interest (e.g.,corners of the rooms) identified using the process illustrated in FIGS.4-6 .

From the image illustrated in FIG. 7 , the mobile application running inthe mobile device (117), or the server (113) or another mobile device,can determine the foot location of the thermal image of the person inthe room. Since the image of the person appears to be in a standingposition and/or the foot location is in a foot traffic area (and/or themovement of the thermal image is consistent with the pattern of a personwalking in the foot traffic area), the system can assume that the footis on the floor (127). Thus, the system can compute the coordinates ofthe person on the room (109) based on the foot location in the thermalimage (141).

FIG. 8 illustrates an application of a location determination systemaccording to one embodiment. For example, the application illustrated inFIG. 8 can be provided using the room layout generated in the processillustrated in FIGS. 4-6 and coordinate system mapping that is based onthe camera orientation with respect to the room and the mounting height(123) of the thermal camera assemble (101) of the system illustrated inFIG. 1 .

In FIG. 8 , the room layout (135) and the mounting height (123) allowthe system to compute the measured floor size of the monitored activityarea (e.g., 10 by 10 square meters).

From the orientation and size of the thermal image (157) of an object(and/or movement history), the system determines that a human of adetermined height is on the floor (127) lying at determine coordinatesin the room (109). Such determination can be used to trigger the reportof a fall of a monitor person (e.g., a senior or a patient).

In FIG. 8 , from the orientation and size of the thermal images (159) ofobjects (and/or movement history), the system determines that two humansare at a measured distance from the camera. Such determination can beused to report the presence and/or activity of humans in a monitoredenvironment.

In some instances, the imaging system as illustrated in FIG. 1 isconfigured to automatically calibrate and/or re-calibrate the mountingheight (123) and/or other configuration parameters (e.g., POI locations)based on a statistical analysis of the thermal images of humans observedover a period of time.

For example, after the imaging system detects the thermal images of anumber of people that have been to the monitored area (e.g., room (109))over a period of time, the system computes a statistical distribution ofthe relative height of the people detected in the period of time. Themounting height can be scaled to match the distribution of the height ofthe detected people with a known distribution of height of people (e.g.,people in the same geographical region and/or having ages within anexpected range for people visiting the monitored area). A mountingheight computed from the height distribution can be used in place of amounting height computed from an input of the height of a user detectedduring the installation process, or to cross check and/or improve themounting height computed during the installation process. Thus, thecalibration accuracy can improve over time based on the monitoringresults of the imaging system.

In some instances, an object of a known height in the monitored area(e.g., room (109)) can be detected in certain time periods of theservice of the imaging system. For example, when there is a significanttemperature difference between the room (109) and the environmentoutside the room (109), opening of the door at some time instances wouldallow the thermal camera assembly (101) to generate a image where thedoor opening area has a thermal image recognizable in the imagecoordinate system (e.g., the opening area has a temperature of theenvironment outside the room (109) while the wall on which the door ismounted has the temperature of the room). The height of the door canthus be determined from the thermal image of the door opening area tocalibrate the mounting height of the thermal camera assembly (101)against a known or standard door height.

For example, after the thermal camera assembly (101) having an enclosureillustrated in FIGS. 9-15 is placed in a monitored area (e.g. room(109)) to capture the scenery, a calibration/training process isconfigured to allow the thermal imaging system (e.g., as illustrated inFIG. 1 ) to understand the true geometric data from the capturedfootage, and recognize points of interests (POI) which may not bedetectable in the imaging apparatus capturing band. For example, whenthermal imaging in the band of infrared radiation looks at the sceneryof uniform room temperature, the POIs are not detectable due to the lackof distinct temperature contrast or temperature differences.

When an enclosure illustrated in FIGS. 9-15 is used, a set ofconfiguration parameters are known (from factory configurations) withoutthe need for measurements from the installation site. Such configurationparameters may include: image size and aspect ratio, imaging lensparameter (e.g., the Field of View), the mounting angles in a3-dimensional space relative to some reference point/plane/coordinatesystem of the scenery (e.g. room (109)). The mounting height (123) canbe determined using the method illustrated in FIG. 1-3 or 18 .

The mounting height can be determined using other technical solutionsthat use additional resources. For example two cameras can be mountedwithin the enclosure with a known distance to each other; and throughstereoscopic vision the referencing of objects can be determined. Forexample, a distance measurement sensor, such as time of flight (TOF)sensor, can be included in the thermal camera assembly (101) to measureits mounting height from the floor plane (127) automatically. Forexample, the installer may be instructed to measure the mounting height(123) using a measuring tape and enter the measurement via a userinterface provided by the mobile device (117) configured for thecalibration of the thermal imaging system.

Once the configuration parameters are known, the thermal imaging systemhas a mapping from the image coordinate system (139) and the roomcoordinate system for a true geometric understanding from the capturedfootage.

For example, the mobile device (117) is configured to establish acommunication connection (e.g., via an access point (111) for a wirelesslocal area network) with the thermal camera assembly (101) and/or theserver (113) for the calibration of the thermal camera assembly (101)installed in the room (109). The mobile device (117) provides a userinterface to instruct the user to move around within the room such thatthe user is fully visible in the thermal image captured by the thermalcamera assembly (101) and instruct the user to be on the floor (127) ina standing position. Optionally, the user interface may instruct to theuser to go to one or more preferred locations where the user is fullyvisible in the thermal image. The mobile device (117) receives a heightof the user (e.g., via a user interface, or from a data source that hasthe height of the user).

In general, from the full thermal image (133) of the user (131) standingvertically on the floor plane (127), the system measures the size of thethermal image (133) and computes the mounting height (123) of thethermal camera assembly (101) to match the real world height of the user(131) as projected to the location and size of the thermal image (133)of the user (131) in the image coordinate system (139). It is notnecessary to know the exact position and/or distance of the user (131)relative to the thermal camera assembly (101) or the edge (119) on whichthe thermal camera assembly (101) in order to compute the mountingheight (123).

In some instances, the user or object (131) having a known height may beobstructed by other objects which could falsely show a different heightof the user or object (131) in the image than the actual height in thethermal image (e.g., in particular in low resolution thermal infraredimage). For example, a hot object or other subject of same temperatureappears to be above the user or object (131) in the image produced bythe thermal camera assembly (101), which makes the user or object (131)subject appear taller in the thermal image. By instructing the user(131) to walk around in the monitored area, the system can detect thethermal image of the user (131) in relation with the thermal images ofother objects having temperatures that are significantly different fromthe room temperature and thus identify a preferred location to take ameasure of the size of the thermal image (133) of the user (131) for thecomputation of the mounting height (123). In the preferred location, thethermal images of other objects do not interfere with the measure of thesize of the thermal image (133) of the user (131) in the imagecoordinate system (139). Optionally, the user interface of the mobileapplication running in the mobile device (117) shows the thermal imagefrom the thermal camera assembly (101) in real time, such that the usermay verify that the user is standing in a location in a room where thethermal images of other objects do not overlap with the thermal image(133) of the user (131) in a way that affects the accurate measurementof the height of the thermal image (133) of the user (131) in the imagecoordinate system (139).

Calibration through the thermal image of a human having a known heightis one example. In general, any object of known height/geometry, whichcan be detected by the imaging apparatus of the thermal camera assembly(101) can be used to as the reference object (131) in the imagingscenery, such as a cup of hot water, a bottle of iced water. Typically,the human body forms an ideal reference object in thermal infrared dueto a good contest from a typical room temperature background and a sizesimilar to the objects to be monitored in the scenery. Thus, the use ofa human body as a reference offers simplicity and easiness ininstallation and calibration, which in fact does not require anyknow-how of technical expertise or any other objects/apparatuses/aids toperform this type of referencing.

Preferably, the communication connectivity between the thermal cameraassembly (101) and a centralized remote server (113) allows the storageof the calibration information of the thermal camera assembly (101)installed in a monitored area (e.g., room (109)) in the cloud tofacilitate cloud computing. Such an arrangement enables a very smoothuser experience and friendly interface (e.g., implemented via a mobileapplication running in a mobile device (117)). Some of the computationand/or resource intensive tasks can be performed on the mobile device(117) and/or on the server (113). Thus, the cost of the thermal cameraassembly (101) can be reduced.

In a typical installation process, the mobile device (117) (or aninstruction manual) instructs the user to:

1. activate the thermal camera assembly (101) (e.g. by peeling ofprotection strip between battery contact and battery, or pushing abutton to switch device on, supply power through cable, etc.);

2. establish a communication connection to the thermal camera assembly(101) (e.g., by using a mobile application installed on the mobiledevice (117), such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personalmedia player, to scan a code which is placed on or associated with thethermal camera assembly (101) that has a unique device ID used forestablishing an authorized communication connection, such as a wirelesspersonal area network connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection or NearField Communication connection), and by using the mobile application andthe connection to the thermal camera assembly (101) to configure theconnection to the access point (111) and the server (113) over thenetwork (115) and configured the thermal camera assembly (101) in a useraccount);

3. optionally, enable a connection to a cloud-based computing & storagesystem (e.g., a connection between the thermal camera assembly (101) andthe server (113), via internet, either standalone from thermal cameraassembly (101) or through a low power communication connection with ahub, using Bluetooth, Zig-Bee, etc. in order to preserve energy, wherethe hub is connected to the internet);

4. optionally, configure the mobile device (117) to perform at leastsome of the functions of the server (113) in storing and/or processingthe calibration information;

5. mount the thermal camera assembly (101) in an edge (119) or a corner(174) of a room (109), preferably at a location above a head height fora desirable coverage of the monitored area, where the enclosure of thethermal camera assembly (101) as illustrated in FIGS. 9-17 ) simplifiesthe alignment of the thermal camera assembly (101) with the orientationof the room (109);

6. identify an approximate mounting height (123) of the thermal cameraassembly (101) above the floor plane (127) of the room (109), (e.g., byinstructing the user to step back until the user is fully visible andunobstructed then confirm the approximate height of the user, where themobile application running on the mobile device (117) can provide somevisual feedback of thermal images of the user captured by the thermalcamera assembly (101));

7. optionally, configure and mount additional thermal camera assemblies(e.g., installed in adjacent or opposite corners and/or edges, forexample, for improved fall detection where at least two thermal cameraassemblies are mounted in adjacent corners or edges), in a way similarto the configuring of the first thermal camera assembly (101) in theroom (109) without the needs to perform operations to identify theirmounting heights, because mounting height of the subsequently addedthermal camera assemblies can be computed from the height of an objectcaptured simultaneously by the first thermal camera assembly (101) andthe subsequently added thermal camera assembly and the real world heightcalculated according to the mounting height of the first thermal cameraassembly (101), and machine learning can be applied to correlate theobjects as seen by the different thermal camera assemblies installed tomonitor the same room (109)); and

8. optionally, go to one or more points of interests to identifyenvironmental features in the room (109) that may not be detectable fromthe thermal images of the room (109), such as the opposite corner of theroom (109) to define the maximum diagonal distance of the viewing field,other corners of the room (109) to help determine the ground plane ofthe scenery, and the locations of doors, tables, pillars, furniture, andother objects.

For example, the mobile application may instruct the user to walk to alocation and then push a button on the mobile application (or provide avoice commend to the mobile application, provide a gesture made viaflipping or shaking the mobile device (117), or stand still at thelocation for a few seconds) to indicate that the user is standing at thelocation. This teaches the thermal imaging system the geometry/layout ofthe room (109) and the locations and/or sizes of the environmentalobjects in the room (109) within the thermal image coordinate system.

For example, if a room has multiple doors, the installer could simplystand in the door, confirm in the mobile application that he/she isstanding in a door and chose from a set of menu options where this doorleads to (e.g., closet, kitchen, entrance, toilet, living room, etc.).Such information helps the thermal imaging system to determine peopletraffic (e.g., for monitoring a store or office spaces to determinewhere people movements are, for safety and/or security applications,etc.). Such an aspect is unique for thermal imaging because the POIsthat are invisible in the thermal infrared band are identified by simpleuser interaction with a mobile application running in the mobile device(117).

The storage of the input parameters, calibration parameters, POI mappingdata, etc., can be in the cloud (e.g., the server (113)), the mobiledevice (117), and/or the thermal camera assembly (101). The server (113)and/or the mobile device (117) can be configured to use algorithmsand/or look-up tables to reconstruct the geometrical relations betweenthe thermal image coordinate system and the room coordinate system,based on the configuration parameters.

When configured as discussed above, a thermal imaging system knows thetrue geometric relations between the thermal imaging space and the realworld space and/or the points of interest that are not visible in thethermal image system. As a result, the system can not only determineposition and height of humans and objects within the field of view ofthe thermal camera assemblies (e.g., 101)) but can also determine howmuch people have moved within the scenery.

For example, by tracking individuals throughout the scenery, the systemcalculates how much distance the individual has walked. Such informationcan be used in determining whether a senior has been sufficiently activewithin the premises for senior living; and a cloud based system cancalculate how much energy the subject has consumed/burned and aid theuser by interacting with the user and letting the user know if activityis insufficient. For example, if the activity is excessive and the riskof a fall/injury due to exhaustion is probable, the system can providean alert to the senior being monitored and/or care providers.

The configuration process discussed above can be carried out withminimum user requirements: the installer does not have to have anyskills in the related arts, does not require any instruments forinstallation; and for the parameter determination only an interfacedevice (e.g. a smart phone, tablet, or computer with an application orother pre-installed communication port) and a user height input areused.

In one aspect, the present application provides an imaging system whichcan determine automatically all configuration parameter in order todetermine geometric relations of the viewing field through distancemeasurement sensors or multiple (known) camera configuration. If suchengineering solution is not available (e.g. due to cost), a “simpler”imaging system determines the finial configuration parameter (e.g.,mounting height) based on an input from the user either the mountingheight or the height of the user/installer/the person performing thecalibration.

In another aspect, the present application provides a method where ahuman is a reference (marker) for providing novel functional contextualgeometric information and key points (e.g., points of interest) within aviewing field of an internet-connected thermal imaging apparatus whichhas the capability of computation and storage (e.g., via cloudcomputing) (and interact with user through a user interface) under a setof instruction without requiring the user/installer/human to havetechnical skills.

In a further aspect, the present application provides a cloud-basedthermal imaging system which reconstructs and provides contextualinformation of scenery by simple configuration determination.

The wirelessly connected thermal imaging system can use a low resolutionthermal footage to monitor human occupancy and activity in scenerywithout revealing information about person's identity. From the thermalfootage, the system determines human activity and well-being.

Optionally, the thermal camera assembly (101) contains an audio deviceto provide audio signals to occupants in the monitored area (e.g., room(109)). The audio signals may include voice instructions and/or promptsstreamed from the server (113). In such an embodiment, the userinterface described above in connection with the mobile device (117) canbe replaced or augmented with the audio-based interface. For example,the calibration/installation instructions provided by the mobile device(117) can be replaced and/or augmented with voice instructions streamedfrom the server (113). For example, when the user (131) is at thelocation where the thermal image (133) of the user (131) is fullycaptured by a frame of image generated by the thermal camera assembly(101), a voice prompt instructs the user to remain standing at thelocation while the system announces heights and start to walk when anannounced height matches the height of the user (131). Thus, the userheight can be conveniently provided to the system via a combination ofvoice prompts and thermal image feedback by motion or the lack of motion(and/or other gesture) that can be detected from the images generated bythe thermal camera assembly (101).

Optionally, the thermal camera assembly (101) includes a microphone toreceive audio inputs from the user(s) in the area monitored by thethermal camera assembly (101). Further, the thermal camera assembly(101) may include light-based indicators for user interaction. In someinstances, the thermal camera assembly (101) uses a communicationconnection to a separate device that has the audio and/or visualcapabilities to use the audio and/or visual capabilities to provide theuser interface. For example, an existing voice-based intelligentpersonal assistant (e.g., in the form of an internet-connected mobiledevice (117)) may be installed in the room (109) and connected to theaccess point (111); and the thermal camera assembly (101) connects tothe personal assistant via the access point (111) to provide theinterface for voice-based interaction; and thus it is not necessary toprovide the user interface via a tablet computer (117).

The audio device(s) and/or visual device(s) of the thermal cameraassembly (101) can be used to provide various services. For example, inthe case of elderly monitoring, when elderly do not hear properly, thatsome light indication can be triggered only based on human presence.

The thermal camera assembly (101) may be connected to other connecteddevices and/or systems, such as a landline telephone. For example, whena telephone is placed in a living room and it rings, the signal would besent via cloud (e.g., the server (113)) to the thermal camera assembly(101), which knows where the user (131) is present in the house fromthermal imaging and thus provides audio and/or visual indications aboutthe event to the user (131) (e.g., light, beep, voice prompt, etc.). Forexample, the thermal camera assembly (101) may provide indications aboutan event from the from alarm burglar system. From toddler monitoring toelderly care, the advantage of the system includes its non-intrusivepeople presence knowledge and non-wearable, remote notification ofevents. The system can provide an attractive solution where grandma isnot required to wear something/carry something on her, in order to getnotified about some events occurring in the house. The system providesthe notification based on the knowledge of the location of grandmaand/or the activity of the grandma. The notification can be filteredand/or provided in an intelligent way based on human activities observedby the thermal camera assembly (101). For example, when the thermalimage of grandma consistent with the grandma sleeping or watching TV,certain alarms or notifications are suppressed.

FIG. 9 illustrates a thermal camera assembly having an enclosureinstalled in a room having an occupant. For example, the thermal cameraassembly (101) mounted in a room (109) can be connected to the server(113) and/or the mobile device (117) to form a thermal imaging system asillustrated in FIG. 1 .

In FIG. 9 , the thermal camera assembly (101) has an enclosure that hasa geometry adapted to simplify the process of aligning the orientationof the thermal camera assembly (101) with the horizontal direction andthe vertical direction of the room (109), as further illustrated inconnection with FIG. 10 .

FIG. 10 shows a thermal camera assembly having an enclosure mounted onan edge of two orthogonal walls.

FIG. 11 shows a back top-down view of the enclosure illustrated in FIG.10 ; and FIG. 13 illustrates a thermal camera assembly of FIG. 10 withthe base face of the enclosure (167) being removed (or made transparent)to reveal the thermal camera (175) and its optical axis (177).

In FIG. 10 , the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) isdesigned to enclose and carry the thermal camera (175) and/or othercomponents of the thermal camera assembly (101). The thermal camera(175) is fixed to and aligned with respect to thedirections/orientations of the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly(101), such that when the directions of the enclosure are aligned withthe directions of the room (109), the thermal camera (175) has a knownorientation with respect to the directions of the room (109).

The enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) has at least 2orthogonal mounting surfaces (162) and (163), illustrated in FIG. 11 .The mounting surfaces (162 and 163) may be orthogonal to each other orsubstantially orthogonal to each other (e.g., having an angle of between85 to 95 degrees, or 88 to 92 degrees).

It is assumed that the walls (171 and 172) of the room (109) are twovertical planes in the room (109), the floor (127) and the ceiling (173)of the room (109) are two horizontal planes in the room (109), the edge(119) where the walls (171) and 172) meet is in the vertical directionof the room (109) and is perpendicular to the floor plane (127) and theceiling plane of the room (109), the edge where a wall (171 or 172) andthe ceiling meet is in a horizontal direction.

Thus, when the thermal camera assembly (101) is pushed against an edge(119) where two walls (171 and 172) meet, the mounting surfaces (162)align with the walls (171 and 172) respectively, which guides thethermal camera assembly (101) into an orientation that is aligned withthe directions of the room (109), where the mounting surfaces (162 and163) are in parallel with the walls (171 and 172) respectively, the backedge (166) of the thermal camera assembly (101) is in parallel with theedge (119) where the walls (171 and 172) meet and in parallel with thevertical direction of the room (109), the top surface (164) of thethermal camera assembly (101) is in parallel with a horizontal plane ofthe room (e.g., the floor (127) and/or the ceiling (173)), the opticalaxis (177) of the thermal camera (175) has a predetermined directionwith respect to the mounting surfaces (162 and 163) and the walls (171and 172), and the optical axis (177) of thermal camera (175) is in avertical plane in the room and has a predetermined direction withrespect to the vertical direction of the room (109).

The top surface (164) can also be optionally configured as a mountingsurface with one or more attachment elements (e.g. adhesive elements).Thus, the thermal camera assembly (101) may be pushed against an edge(119) where a wall (e.g., 171 or 172) and the ceiling (173) meet, orpushed against a corner (174) where two walls (171 and 172) and theceiling (173) meet. The alignment of the orientation of the thermalcamera assembly (101) with the directions of the room (109) can beeasily achieved via pushing the thermal camera assembly (101) againstthe edge (119, 102, or 104) or corner (174) where the thermal cameraassembly (101) is mounted.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate an example of marking the top surface (164)with an orientation indicator (169), which can be used to avoidinstalling the thermal camera assembly (101) sideways where the topsurface (164) is mistakenly pressed against a wall (171 or 172).

FIG. 12 a thermal camera assembly (101) having an alternativeorientation marker (169) that is on a side surface (162) of theenclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101). The orientation marker(169) includes an arrow pointing up and the letters “UP” for clarifyingthe intended mounting orientation of the thermal camera assembly (101)along the vertical edge (119) of the room (109).

In FIGS. 10 and 11 , the orientation marker (169) contained the letter“TOP” to indicate, as a mounting instruction, that the surface (164) isthe top-surface for mounting the thermal camera assembly (101).

In general, the orientation marker (169) may be a graphical indicationof the intended mounting orientation (e.g., arrow) with or withoutletters or numbers as installation instructions. For example, the bottomindication can be marked with feet or shoes, and the top indication canbe marked with a light bulb, sun, cloud, roof, ceiling or any symbolwhich intuitively indicates the correct mounting position.

Preferably, at least one of the mounting surfaces (162, 163, and/or 164)has an attachment element (e.g. adhesive element) to simplify theprocess of installing the thermal camera assembly (101). For example,the attachment element may be a double sided adhesive film, whichrequires simply a protective layer to be peeled off by the installer andthe enclosure to be brought into contact with a wall. The adhesive filmprovides a sufficient bond such that no further tools are required forthe installation and alignment of enclosure of the thermal cameraassembly (101). Alternatively, attachment can be achieved via nail,bolt, screw, hole for a wall mounted hook, etc.

The orthogonal mounting faces (162 and 163) illustrated in FIG. 11 allowthe enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) to be mounted in avertical edge (119) of two substantially orthogonal walls (171 and 172)of a room (109), as schematically shown in FIG. 10 .

In FIG. 10 , the orthogonal mounting surfaces (162 and 163) are notvisible from the shown perspective as they face walls (171 and 172)respectively. In FIG. 11 , the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly(101) is displayed with the orthogonal mounting surfaces (162 and 163)facing the viewer of FIG. 11 .

Such a particular geometry of at least 2 orthogonal mounting faces hasthe advantage that the walls and/or ceiling (173) of the room serve toconstrain the large number of possible orientations in which the thermalcamera assembly (101) could be mounted within a room (109), when theenclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) is mounted at locationswhere the walls and/or ceiling (173) of the room join each other at acorner of the room. The remaining variables of mounting such a thermalcamera assembly (101), containing at least 2 orthogonal mountingsurfaces, in a substantially orthogonal vertical edge of a room are thepossible mounting height (123) of the thermal camera assembly (101) fromthe floor (127) of the room (109) and the enclosure's relativeorientation (e.g., up vs. down), along the vertical edge of the room.

In any given case the mounting procedure of such a thermal cameraassembly (101) having the enclosure with the particular geometry issufficiently simple to be performed by a person without any technicalskills or tools. For example, the installation of the assembly (101) canbe performed by attaching a double sided adhesive tape (e.g., as anadhesive element) to one, or two mounting surfaces (162 and 163) (and/oroptionally surface (164)) of the enclosure of the thermal cameraassembly (101) and bringing the surfaces into contact with the verticalwalls (171 and 172) as illustrated in FIG. 10 , respectively (andoptionally in contact with the ceiling (173)). The installation can beperformed as well by bringing the enclosure in contact with only onemounting face 2 or 3 (whichever contains an adhesive film for example)to the wall 11 a or 11 b, respectively, in close proximity of the of thevertical edge of a room. The orthogonal mounting faces (162 and 163)provide an intuitive shape for an installer to mount it in asubstantially orthogonal edge of a room. Further, the solution allowsthe enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) to be installed by aperson with non-steady or shaky hands or arms. In fact, it requires verylow motoric or tactile sensitivity to bring the orthogonal surface intocontact with or in close proximity of a vertical edge of a room, thus tomount the enclosure appropriately within a room.

Such an enclosure geometry can include for example a tetrahedral shapeas displayed schematically in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 , where thetetrahedron may optionally include a third orthogonal mounting surface(164) for contacting the ceiling (173) during the installation (with orwithout an adhesive/attachment element). The mounting surfaces (e.g.,162, 163, and/or 1644) are planar and either solid or perforated,provided there is enough material to provide an attaching surface to beattached to the wall (171) and/or the wall (172) (and/or the ceiling(173)) of the room (109).

The enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) may also include aroom-facing base face (165), in the example of a tetrahedral shapeopposite to the vertex (161) of the orthogonal faces (referred to asorthogonal vertex (161)). The base face (165) is displayed schematicallyin FIG. 10 .

Preferably, the base face (165) is not transparent; and the thermalcamera (175) is not visible to a person within the capturing field ofthe thermal camera 175 (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 10 ).

The imaging devices as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/750,403, filed Jun. 25, 2015, published as U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.2015/0377711, and entitled “Apparatus and Method for ElectromagneticRadiation Sensing”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/788,286, filedJun. 30, 2015, and entitled “Micromechanical Device for ElectromagneticRadiation Sensing”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/810,363, filedJul. 27, 2015, and entitled “Micromechanical Device for ElectromagneticRadiation Sensing”, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/188,116,filed Jun. 21, 2016, and entitled “Fabrication Method forMicromechanical Sensors” can be used as the thermal camera (175)disposed within the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101).However, other imaging devices can also be used.

The imaging apparatus may be, for example, a low-resolution thermalimaging unit having, for example, 30×20 thermal infrared pixels tocapture the scenery with a low frame rate (e.g. 1 frame per second, nomore than 9 frames per second) and transmitting such imagery wirelesslyto a remote receiving unit (e.g., the server (113) or the mobile device(117)), while the enclosed, and thus not visible, low-resolution thermalimaging unit and the transmitting unit are powered by a battery enclosedwithin the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101).

FIGS. 14 and 15 show a thermal camera assembly having a replaceablebattery unit on its bottom corner.

In FIGS. 14 and 15 , the thermal camera assembly (101) is schematicallyshown with a replaceable battery unit (179) on its bottom corner. Anexchangeable or replaceable unit does not need to be on the bottomcorner and can be positioned elsewhere within the enclosure. In theschematic example of FIGS. 14 and 15 , a replacement battery unit (179)can be detached from enclosure 1 by simply pushing it in once. Theattachment mechanism of the replacement battery unit (172) to theenclosure can be through a lock spring, similar to card adapters, wherea “push in, push out” mechanism is used to attach or detach a part intoits dedicated socket. The replacement battery unit (179) can be eitherreplaced by a new battery unit or can have interfaces, such as a USBinterface so it can be recharged through a USB interface. Optionally, asecondary battery unit can be integrated within the enclosure (notvisible from the perspective view of FIGS. 14 and 15 ); thus, if thereplaceable battery unit (179) is ejected out of the enclosure, powersupply for the operation of the thermal camera (175) within theenclosure is temporary provided by the secondary battery while thereplaceable battery unit (179) is being replaced.

The base face (165) can have a shape of an equilateral triangle (all 60degree angles—as shown schematically in FIGS. 10, 11, 13 , for example)or be non-regular or be a spherical or planar surface.

In other implementations, the base face (165) of the enclosure of thethermal camera assembly (101) has a curved or spherical shape, asindicated schematically in FIG. 16 .

FIGS. 16 and 17 show thermal camera assemblies having alternative baseface shapes.

The implementation illustrated in FIG. 16 contains three orthogonalmounting faces (162, 163, and 164), which are not visible from displayedperspective. The mounting faces (162, 163, and 164) and are planar andeither solid or perforated, provided there is enough material to providean attaching surface to be mounted onto wall (171, 172), and/or ceiling(173) of the room (109).

In some implementations, an enclosure having a spherical-shaped baseface (165) can provide up to three orthogonal mounting surfaces andcontain a shape which can be described as an eighth slice of a roundspherical or elliptical geometry (ball, for example) (as illustrated inFIG. 16 ), or a quarter slice of a round spherical or ellipticalgeometry (as illustrated in FIG. 17 ).

In such an implementation, the enclosure can be mounted in asubstantially orthogonal ceiling corner of the room (109) (e.g., asillustrated in FIG. 16 ), if the installer is capable of reaching theroom in a convenient way. Otherwise such implementation can be mountedin the vertical edge (119) of a room (109) with a distance of separationbetween the top surface of the thermal camera assembly (101) and theceiling (173).

In some instances, the ceiling has a strip of material between thetransition of the ceiling to the vertical wall (cove, mold or trayceiling) and in such instances the enclosure 1 can be mounted in thevertical edge (119) of a room (109), as illustrated in FIG. 17 .

In general, the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) (e.g.having an overall tetrahedron shape, or aspherical/elliptical/ellipsoidal shape) has two or three orthogonalsurfaces, one or more of which surfaces can be optionally configuredwith adhesive to serve as adhesive mounting surfaces for bonding to awall and/or a ceiling. In some instances, only one mounting surface isconfigured with an adhesive layer for attaching to a wall (171 or 172)or a ceiling (173). By bringing the enclosure of the thermal cameraassembly (101) in contact with a wall in close proximity to a verticaledge (119) or a ceiling corner (174) of a room (109), the thermal cameraassembly (101) can adhere to the wall without the requirement of anytechnical tools or skills, in an uncomplicated mounting procedure undera simple set of instructions.

In some implementations the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly(101) has only two orthogonal mounting faces (162) and (163) and acurved base face (165) (e.g., having the shape of a portion of aspherical or elliptical surface). The curved based face (165) connectsthe two orthogonal mounting faces (162 and 163) as illustratedschematically in FIG. 17 .

The shape of the enclosure illustrated in FIG. 17 may be described as aquarter ellipsoid shape, sliced along the long axis of the ellipsoidalshape. An orientation indicator can be provided on a mounting surface(162 or 163) (not visible in FIG. 17 ) to indicate the desired mountingorientation of the ellipsoid shape enclosure along the vertical edge(119) of the room (109). For example, the orientation indicator may be asingle point with a separate set of instruction explaining that whenmounting the enclosure in a vertical edge of the room that the pointshall be closer to the ceiling of the room to ensure proper orientationof the enclosure.

In some implementations, the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly(101) does not contain more than 3 orthogonal mounting faces (each isorthogonal with respect to remaining mounting faces), to enable andensure installation simplicity.

One advantage of this mounting procedure is that the vertical wallsserve to constrain the orientation of the enclosure, ensuring that theorientation of the base face (165) to the room's floor and walls isknown with a high degree of confidence and without the needs to measurethe orientation after the installation.

FIG. 18 illustrate geometrical relations among the mounting positing ofan enclosure, the orientation of the optical axis of an imagingapparatus housed within an enclosure, the field of view of the imagingapparatus, and the space within the room that can be captured in imagesobtained from the imaging apparatus housed within the enclosure.

Within the thermal image assembly (101), the thermal camera (175) ismounted to have a predetermined orientation with respect to itsenclosure (e.g. a desired alignment of its optical axis (177) withrespect to the base face (165)), such that when the enclosure of thethermal camera (175) is mounted in alignment with the walls (171, 172)and/or ceiling (173) of the room (109), the thermal camera (175)achieves substantial alignment with the area of interest in the room(109), as schematically illustrated in FIG. 13 . This mounting of thethermal camera (175) with respect to the enclosure, in conjunction withthe alignment of the base face (165) constrained by positioning theenclosure of the thermal image assembly (101) in a room corner (174) orroom's vertical edge (119), ensures the thermal camera (175) views theroom (109) on a well-defined axis (177) with respect to walls (171 and172) and the floor (127) of the room (109).

The desired orientation of the axis (177) of an imaging apparatus (e.g.,the thermal camera (175)) with respect to the enclosure depends on anumber of factors, for example to best serve the imaging apparatus andapplication, to achieve a desired apparatus coverage or to target aparticular room geometry.

In one implementation, the mounting of the imaging apparatus (e.g., thethermal camera (175)) within the enclosure 1 is arranged so that theimaging axis (177) equally bisects the angle between the two mountingwalls (171 and 172) to the horizontal.

In one implementation, the mounting of the imaging apparatus (e.g., thethermal camera (175)) within the enclosure 1 is arranged so that theimaging axis (177) equally is perpendicular or is tilted with respect tothe vertical edge of the room.

In some instances, the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera(175)) has a field of view (capturing viewing angle) of 90 degrees ormore. When such an imaging apparatus is used, a symmetrical orientationof the image apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera (175)) fixation withinthe enclosure in an orthogonal room can result in substantially fullroom coverage or coverage of a reasonable proportion of the room.

In some instances, the enclosure houses two or more imaging apparatuses(e.g., thermal camera (175)). In such instances the enclosure 1 includesa fixation mounting for each imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera(175)) which allows the optical axis (177) of each to be fixed relativeto the base face (165). In one possible implementation, the optical axes(177) of the imaging apparatuses can be distributed evenly in ahorizontal plane and/or a vertical plane.

In some instances, the optical axis (177) may have an inclination anglefrom the horizontal plane that is parallel to the ceiling plane (173) orthe floor plane (127). The mounting of the enclosure can be performed ata height at or above a typical human's head or even in the ceilingcorner (174) of a room (109), so that the imaging apparatus (e.g., thethermal camera (175)) has an optical axis (177) being oriented towardsthe room, containing an inclination angle relative to the horizontalplane, with the apparatus “looking down” on the room (109). Theorientation marker (169) on the enclosure functions as an indicator forensuring that the enclosure is in the correct orientation for theimaging apparatus to be facing towards the room and towards the floor(127) of the room (109).

In general, multiple imaging apparatuses can be housed within theenclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101), depending on the size ofthe field of view of the imaging apparatuses. For example, when animaging apparatus has a field of view of 90 degrees or more is used forcorner or edge mount, one imaging apparatus may be sufficient. Whenimaging apparatuses each having a limited field of view (e.g. 30degrees), an array of imaging apparatuses (e.g. 3×3) can be configuredto stitch together the fields of views to cover the room.

The problem of the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera (175))(or multiple thereof) within the enclosure being visible to a personstanding in front of the enclosure 1 is solved by a base face (165)which is visually opaque or translucent from the outside of theenclosure.

Such a visibly opaque surface could be an infrared-transparent materialif the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera (175)) inside theenclosure 1 detects or emits in the infrared band (e.g., as in therelated applications identified above). In some implementations such avisibly opaque, but infrared-transparent surface can be made out ofpolymer material, such as polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP). Suchpolymer materials appear white and non-transparent in the visual bandfor the human eye, but can be transparent in the infrared band. Othervisually non-transparent, but infrared transparent materials includeGermanium (Ge) or Silicon (Si). These materials appear in the visualband, for the human eye, “black” and visible light cannot pass throughsuch materials due to no transmission in the visual band. In anotherinstance it may be a partially transparent mirror (one-way or two-waymirror; a visually transparent material coated with a thin metalliclayer) where a person facing the plane sees a reflective surface as thebase face (165), while the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera(175)) can image through the partly visually transparent surface.

In at least some embodiments, the enclosure of the imaging apparatus(e.g., the thermal camera (175)) is configured for simplicity ofmounting procedure, with the fixed, “self-aligned” viewing angle of animaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera (175)) configured within theenclosure that has an orientation constrained by its mounting surfacescontacting the walls of a substantially orthogonal vertical edge of aroom. Thus, if the particular orientation of the imaging apparatus(e.g., the thermal camera (175)) within the enclosure is known, theangle of the field of view (185) of the imaging apparatus (e.g., thethermal camera (175)) is known, and the approximate mounting height(123) is known, the space that is monitored by the imaging apparatus canbe computed to determine whether it includes the one or multiplestanding subjects (131) having a height (183) and positioned with adistance (181) and an angle within the horizontal plane of the room(109) (e.g., relative to the walls (171 and 172).

On the other side, in order to provide the desired space covered by thethermal imaging assembly (101), the desired mounting height (123) can becomputed from the distance (181) between the furthest subject havingheight (183), the orientation of the field of optical axis (177)relative to the thermal camera assembly (101), and the angle of thefield of view (185) of the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera(175)). The orientation of the field of optical axis (177) relative tothe enclosure, and the angle of the field of view (185) of the imagingapparatus (e.g., the thermal camera (175)) is predefined bymanufacturing of enclosure in one embodiment.

In one implementation, the set of mounting instructions for auser/installer instructs the user to peel off protective layer from adouble sided adhesive tape, which is already pre-installed by default onmounting surface (162 and/or 163) of the enclosure of the thermal cameraassembly (101), and mount the enclosure into a substantially orthogonalvertical edge (119) of a room (109), at a height (123) of approximately6 feet or higher above the floor (127).

In some implementations, the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera(175)) inside the enclosure has, for example, about 30×20 pixels with ahorizontal and vertical field of view (185) of slightly larger than 90degrees. The thermal camera (175) being battery operated, activated bythe user by, for example, pushing a button on the mounting surface(162), or releasing a contact-stopping tape from battery compartment, oractivating remotely via a handheld computer (e.g., 117)). The thermalcamera assembly (101) streams the recorded footage wirelessly to areceiver (e.g., using a wireless transmitter for wireless local areanetwork, wireless personal area network, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, radiotransmission, cellular communications, etc.). The low resolution of thethermal camera (175) provides privacy protection to occupants of theroom. In such an implementation, the base plane (165) can be a white,visually non-transparent film, made out of a thin PE-membrane, hidingthe content of the enclosure and in particular the imaging apparatus(e.g., the thermal camera (175)).

The orientation of the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera(175)) inside the enclosure can be such that it is symmetric in thehorizontal plane and symmetric to the vertical plane, where thehorizontal plane can be defined as substantially plane parallel to thefloor (127) of the room (109) and the vertical plane can be defined assubstantially plane parallel to one of the mounting walls of the room.For example, the orientation of the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermalcamera (175)) inside the enclosure can be such that its optical axis(177) is 45 degrees downward relative to the back edge (166) that joinsthe faces (162 and 163) and have equal angles relative to the faces (162and 163). For example, the orientation of the imaging apparatus (e.g.,the thermal camera (175)) inside the enclosure can be such that itsoptical axis (177) is aligned in the plane that bisect the enclosurevertically (e.g., passing through the vertical edge that joins the faces2 and 3) and have a predetermined angle (e.g., 45 degrees) relative tothe vertical edge. With the known orientation of the camera preset atmanufacture, its preset field of view (185) and its approximate mountingheight (123), the captured image can be analyzed for the position of asubject (131) within the field of view (185) and the height (183) of thesubject (131) as well as the width, as schematically shown in across-section 2-dimensional view of FIG. 18 .

In FIG. 18 , when the mounting height (123) of the thermal cameraassembly (101) is known, for example by any of the methods discussedabove in connection with FIGS. 1-3 , and the optical axis (177) and thefield of view (185) are known from the design and manufacture of theenclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101), then the observablespatial position and the distance (181) between a subject or object(131) within the field of view of the apparatus 20 can be determined.

In FIG. 18 , the dotted lines from the thermal camera assembly (101)reversely project the pixels to the floor (127) and the wall on theopposite side. The thermal radiation between adjacent dotted lines ismeasured by a corresponding pixel in a thermal camera (175) in thethermal camera assembly (101). Thus, the spaces between the dotted linesrepresent the spaces imaged by the corresponding pixels.

For example, the thermal radiation projected to the thermal cameraassembly (101) between the dotted lines (188 and 189) is measured bypixel 1; and the thermal radiation projected to the thermal cameraassembly (101) between the dotted lines (187 and 188) is measured bypixel 2; etc. The thermal intensity measured by the pixels 1, 2 andothers form a vertical line (186) of pixels in a thermal image. Thethermal image (131) of the subject or object (131) is represented by theshaded pixels (183). For the given mounting height (123) and the fieldof view (185), a count of pixels (181) up to the bottom of the thermalimage (133) of the object (131) corresponding to a determined horizontaldistance (181) between the location of the subject or object (131) andthe edge (119) on which the thermal camera assembly (101) is mounted.The count of the shaded pixels represents the height (183) of thethermal image (133) of the subject or object (131) in the imagecoordinate system (139), which corresponds to the real world height ofthe subject or object (131) above the floor (127) of the room (109) inview of the mounting height (123). The geometrical relation can also beused in reverse direction to determine the mounting height (123) basedon the real world height of the subject or object (131) and the count ofthe shaded pixels that represents the height (183) of the thermal image(133) of the subject or object (131) at a location identified by thecount of pixels (181) below the shaded pixels.

In FIG. 18 , the one-dimensional vertical pixel row (186) shows how thesubject (131) in the room (109) appears in the thermal image captured bythe thermal camera assembly (101). The radiation from the subject (131)causes the shaded pixels to be measured to have a temperatesignificantly different from the other areas that are measured by thenon-shaded pixels. The non-shaded pixels represented the portion of theroom measured at the room temperature; and the shaded pixels representedthe elevated surface temperate of the subject (131) over the roomtemperature.

In FIG. 18 , the vertical row of pixels (186) are identified as with“Pixel 1”, “Pixel 2”, etc., which correspond to the imaged spaces markedcorresponding with “Pixel 1”, “Pixel 2”, etc.

Assuming the subject (131) is standing vertically within the room (109),his or her height (183) and position (181) can be determined bytrigonometric relations. Analogue example is valid for the horizontaldimension, which allows the determination of the subject's or object'sposition within the horizontal dimension and its width. This is validfor any object having a temperature different from the room temperaturein case of imaging in thermal infrared.

For example, hot-spots or cold-spots can be allocated by knowing theirposition and their relative size, in addition to its relativetemperature. Hot-spots could include hazardous items such as for examplean iron that was accidently forgotten to be turned off by a user andleft was unattended and can be a potential fire or safety hazard, orcold-spots could include an open window when very cold air is streaminginto the room that was forgotten to be closed by a person. Manycold-spots and hot-spots can be detected by a low resolution thermalimaging apparatus. Accordingly, 3 dimensional information of the viewingscenery can be reconstructed of the recorded image of the thermal cameraassembly (101).

The example of FIG. 18 is simplified to a cross sectional,two-dimensional case with one vertical pixel row (186) of 20 pixels,representing the vertical imaging capacity of the thermal cameraassembly (101) in such an example. The imaging apparatus has preferablya viewing capacity of an array of rows, equivalent to a matrix of pixelsof, for example, 30 pixels in the horizontal direction by 20 pixels inthe vertical direction.

Optionally, additional functions may be integrated within the enclosureof the thermal camera assembly (101), such as a decorative surface onthe visible side of the base face (165), lighting, Wi-Fi accesspoint/repeater, etc.

Optionally, the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) can haverounded corners/edges and a rounded vertex (161) for easier fit/mountinto a rounded vertical edge or a rounded corner of a room.

Optionally, an adapter enclosure is permanently fixated and mounted onthe walls and the enclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101)containing the imaging apparatus (e.g., the thermal camera (175)) and/orother parts thereof (e.g. battery) is attached to the adapter enclosuresuch that the thermal camera assembly (101) can be easily replacedwithout the need of demounting the entire assembly.

Optionally, any part of the thermal camera assembly (101) disposedwithin its enclosure, such as one or the multiplicity of the imagingapparatus (e.g., the thermal camera (175)), the battery, the wirelessmodule, the electronic board, etc. can be designed to be exchangeable orreplaceable within the enclosure, while the enclosure can be permanentlyfixated and mounted on the walls without the need of demounting theentire assembly. For example, a battery module can be replaceable in away as illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15 ; and other replaceable modulescan be similarly configured for the thermal camera (175), an optionalwireless module, etc.

In some instances, wedges are provided for mounting between theenclosure of the thermal camera assembly (101) and the wall(s) (e.g.,171 and 172) and/or the ceiling (173), if walls and/or the ceiling ofthe room (109) are not substantially orthogonal to each other.

FIG. 19 shows an installation process of an imaging system according toone embodiment, such an imaging system of FIG. 1 .

In FIG. 19 , a user or installer is instructed to: attach (191) a cameraassembly (101) to a mounting location (e.g., along a vertical edge(119)) in alignment with horizontal and vertical directions of an area(e.g., room (109)) to be monitored by the camera assembly (101);activate (193) the camera assembly (101) to establish a communicationconnection with a remote server (113) to form an imaging system (e.g.,illustrated in FIG. 1 ); receive (195) instructions from the imagingsystem to calibrate or train the imaging system in correlatingenvironmental elements of the area with elements and/or locations inimages generated by the camera assembly (101); and perform (197) actionsaccording to the instructions to generate inputs through featuresidentifiable in the images generated by the camera assembly (e.g., usingthe user or installer (131) as a reference). Optionally, the user orinstaller further connects (199) a mobile device (117) to the imagingsystem to receive the instructions and/or provide additional inputs forthe calibration and/or training of the imaging system, such as theheight of the user or installer (131), naming points of interests in themonitored area (e.g., room (109)), etc. In some instances, the user orinstaller may activate (193) the camera assembly (101) before attachingthe camera assembly (101) to a mounting location. Further, connecting(199) the mobile device (117) or other devices (e.g., a voice-basedintelligent personal assistant) for the user or installer to receive theinstructions, provide inputs and/or receive feedback is generallyperformed before the operations that involve the interactions with theuser or installer. For example, to receive the instructions using themobile device (117) or a voice-based intelligent personal assistant, theoperation of connecting (199) the mobile device (117) or the voice-basedintelligent personal assistant to the imaging system is performed beforethe receiving (195) of the instructions for calibration or training ofthe imaging system.

For example, the imaging system includes a camera assembly (101) having:an enclosure (167) having at least two mounting surfaces (e.g., 162,163, and/or 164) that are orthogonal to each other for alignment with atleast two orthogonal surfaces (e.g., 171, 172, and/or 173) against whichthe camera assembly is to be mounted; at least one imaging apparatus(e.g., a thermal camera (175)) disposed within the enclosure (167) andhaving a predetermined orientation with respect to the enclosure; and acommunication device disposed within the enclosure (167). The imagingsystem further includes a server (113) disposed at a location remotefrom where the camera assembly (101) is mounted. The camera assembly(101) and the server (113) communicate over a computer communicationnetwork (115) to identify at least one installation measurement of thecamera assembly to establish a mapping from an image coordinate systemfor images generated by the imaging apparatus and a real worldcoordinate system aligned with an orientation defined by the at leasttwo orthogonal surfaces. The communication device may be a wirelesscommunication device, or a wired communication device.

For example, a user (e.g., installer or owner) of the camera assembly(101) is instructed to mount the camera assembly (101) on a verticaledge (119) where two walls (171 and 172) meet; and the at least oneinstallation measurement includes a mounting height (123) of the cameraassembly (101) over a floor plane (127) on which the user (101) of thesystem stands.

Preferably but not required, the imaging apparatus is a thermal camera(175) that generates the images based on sensing infrared radiation.Preferably, a resolution of the thermal camera (175) is sufficiently lowthat an identity of the person captured in the thermal image generatedby thermal camera (175) cannot be determined from the thermal image.

Optionally, a mobile application running in a mobile device (117) isconfigured to provide a user interface (e.g., as illustrated in FIGS.3-6 ), in communication with at least one of: the camera assembly (101)and the server (113), in identifying the installation measurement, suchas the mounting height (123) and/or the locations of points of interestin the image coordinate system (139).

For example, the user interface is configured to receive an inputidentifying a height of the user (131) whose thermal image (133) iscaptured in an image generated by the thermal camera (175); and themounting height (123) is computed from a height of the thermal image(133) of the user in the image coordinate system (139) and thereal-world height of the user (131) received in the user interface.

The at least one installation measurement may include a location, in theimage coordinate system, of a point of interest (e.g., a room corner, adoor, or a window) in a scene, area, or space monitored by the imagingapparatus (175). The point of interest is typically within the imagesgenerated by the thermal camera (175) but not visible in the imagesgenerated by the thermal camera. The installation measurement can beused to construct an area layout (135) that defines the geometry of themonitored space.

In some instances, the user is instructed to move to a point of interestto mark the location of the point of interest in the image coordinatesystem with a location of a thermal image (133) of the user at the pointof interest, as illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 .

In some implementations, the imaging system includes: a second cameraassembly having a known mounting height (e.g., previously determined,measured automatically using a sensor, or identifying by a user). Then,the mounting height of a first camera assembly can be computed based onthe mounting height of the second camera assembly and correlation ofobjects simultaneously captured in images generated the first and secondcameras. The mounting height of the first camera assembly can beadjusted such that the real world heights of objects observed andcalculated by the first camera match with the real world heights ofcorresponding objects observed and calculated by the second camera.

In some instances, a camera assembly (101) includes a sensor toautomatically measure a mounting height (123) between the cameraassembly (101) and a floor plane (127).

For example, after attaching the camera assembly (101) to an edge (119)or corner (174) where two or three orthogonal surfaces (e.g., 171, 172,and/or 173), the user may activate the camera assembly (101) toestablish a communication connection with a remote server (113) and/or amobile device (117). The server (113) and/or the mobile device (117) canprovide instructions the user to move around in the monitored area sothat the user is in a location where the full height of the thermalimage (133) of the user is detected in the image generated by the cameraassembly (101). The user may be prompted to provide a height of the userstanding on a floor (127) and captured in full by the camera assembly sothat the imaging system can compute a mounting height (123) of thecamera assembly (101), based on the real world height of the user (131)and a measurement of a height of the user in the image. The height ofthe user may be provided via a graphical user interface of the mobiledevice (117), or a gesture of the user detected via the camera assembly(101) in connection with voice prompts provided by the server (113).

Optionally, the user is instructed to move a thermally-detectable object(e.g., a cup of hot or cold water, or the body of the user) to a pointof interest in the area (e.g., room (109)) monitored by the cameraassembly (101) to allow the imaging system to bookmark the point ofinterest in images generated by the camera assembly (101) according to alocation of a thermal image (133) of the object positioned at, or in thevicinity of, the point of interest in the monitored area of the imagingsystem. For example, the camera assembly (101) images based on sensinginfrared radiation; and the point of interest is not visible in theimages generated by the camera assembly and thus cannot be determineddirectly from an analysis of the images generated by the camera assemblyat the time of installation.

Optionally, the imaging system identifies the locations of some pointsof interest from machine learning of objects identified from the thermalimages over a period of time, where temperature changes in certain areasof the monitored area and/or the human activities (and/or other thermalactivities) in the monitored area provide indications of the locationsof the points of interests. In such an implementation, it is notnecessary to provide a user interface for the calibration, calculation,and/or the identification of configuration parameters, such as themounting height, the location of points of interests, etc. For example,the user may attach the thermal camera assembly (101) and walks away;and the imaging system captures height of reference object andapproximates after time possible height range statistically. Such theinteraction of the imaging system with a user is optional; and thesystem performs the calibration in the background based on statisticalanalysis and/or “machine learning” of object identification from theresult of a large number units of camera assemblies installed in variouslocations and settings. Statistical results of objects and/orenvironments as observed by the camera assemblies and/or look up tablescan be used to train the imaging system to automatically calculate themounting heights and points of interests as recognized from the recordedimages from the camera assemblies.

In some instances, user inputs are provided to the imaging system viacorrelation of a known context (e.g., a user is instructed to go to apoint of interest) and the thermal images of the objects observed by thethermal camera assembly (101) (e.g., the location of a thermal image(133) of the user (131)). User inputs can also be provided through themobile device (117) by pushing a button in a user interface, a voicecommand to a user interface implemented on the mobile device (117), or agesture input using the mobile device (117). Inputs can also be made viathermal gesture detectable by the thermal camera assembly (101), e.g.,by moving the object and then keeping the object still for at least apredetermined period of time.

Examples of the points of interest include: a corner of a room in whichthe camera assembly is installed; a door of the room; a window of theroom; a furniture located in the room; a pathway in the room; and anactivity area in the room.

After the thermal image system is calibrated or configured with a set ofconfiguration parameters to map between: an image coordinate system ofimages generated by the camera assembly (101); and a real worldcoordinate system of the area monitored by the camera assembly (101),the thermal image system can provide valuable services.

For example, the thermal imaging system identifies sizes andorientations of objects visible in the images generated by the camera,based on sizes and orientation of the objects as measured in the imagesgenerated by the camera and the set of configuration parameters.

For example, the thermal imaging system generates monitoring alertsprovided via an output device of the camera assembly in reference to thepoints of interest in the area, when the set of configuration parametersfurther identifies points of interest in the area in the imagecoordinate system (e.g., points of interest having locations in theimages generated by the camera assembly but not visible in such images).

In some instances, the thermal image system can improve the set ofconfiguration parameters through statistical analysis and/or machinelearning. For example, the accuracy of the mounting height (123) of thecamera assembly (101) above a floor plane (127) of the monitored areacan be improved based on matching a statistical distribution of heightsof thermal images of humans observed by the thermal camera assembly(101) over a period of time with a known distribution.

Each of the mobile device (117), the server system (113), and thethermal camera assembly (101) can be implemented at least in part in theform of one or more data processing systems illustrated in FIG. 20 ,with more or fewer components.

The present disclosure includes the methods discussed above, computingapparatuses configured to perform methods, and computer storage mediastoring instructions which when executed on the computing apparatusescauses the computing apparatuses to perform the methods.

FIG. 20 shows a data processing system that can be used to implementsome components of embodiments of the present application. While FIG. 20illustrates various components of a computer system, it is not intendedto represent any particular architecture or manner of interconnectingthe components. Other systems that have fewer or more components thanthose shown in FIG. 20 can also be used.

In FIG. 20 , the data processing system (200) includes an inter-connect(201) (e.g., bus and system core logic), which interconnects amicroprocessor(s) (203) and memory (211). The microprocessor (203) iscoupled to cache memory (209) in the example of FIG. 20 .

In FIG. 20 , the inter-connect (201) interconnects the microprocessor(s)(203) and the memory (211) together and also interconnects them toinput/output (I/O) device(s) (205) via I/O controller(s) (207). I/Odevices (205) may include a display device and/or peripheral devices,such as mice, keyboards, modems, network interfaces, printers, scanners,video cameras and other devices known in the art. When the dataprocessing system is a server system, some of the I/O devices (205),such as printers, scanners, mice, and/or keyboards, are optional.

The inter-connect (201) includes one or more buses connected to oneanother through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters. Forexample, the I/O controllers (207) include a USB (Universal Serial Bus)adapter for controlling USB peripherals, and/or an IEEE-1394 bus adapterfor controlling IEEE-1394 peripherals.

The memory (211) includes one or more of: ROM (Read Only Memory),volatile RAM (Random Access Memory), and non-volatile memory, such ashard drive, flash memory, etc.

Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) whichrequires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data inthe memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard drive, amagnetic optical drive, an optical drive (e.g., a DVD RAM), or othertype of memory system which maintains data even after power is removedfrom the system. The non-volatile memory may also be a random accessmemory.

The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to therest of the components in the data processing system. A non-volatilememory that is remote from the system, such as a network storage devicecoupled to the data processing system through a network interface suchas a modem or Ethernet interface, can also be used.

In this description, some functions and operations are described asbeing performed by or caused by software code to simplify description.However, such expressions are also used to specify that the functionsresult from execution of the code/instructions by a processor, such as amicroprocessor.

Alternatively, or in combination, the functions and operations asdescribed here can be implemented using special purpose circuitry, withor without software instructions, such as using Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).Embodiments can be implemented using hardwired circuitry withoutsoftware instructions, or in combination with software instructions.Thus, the techniques are limited neither to any specific combination ofhardware circuitry and software, nor to any particular source for theinstructions executed by the data processing system.

While one embodiment can be implemented in fully functioning computersand computer systems, various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a computing product in a variety of forms and are capableof being applied regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

At least some aspects disclosed can be embodied, at least in part, insoftware. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computersystem or other data processing system in response to its processor,such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructions containedin a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory, cache or aremote storage device.

Routines executed to implement the embodiments may be implemented aspart of an operating system or a specific application, component,program, object, module or sequence of instructions referred to as“computer programs.” The computer programs typically include one or moreinstructions set at various times in various memory and storage devicesin a computer, and that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors in a computer, cause the computer to perform operationsnecessary to execute elements involving the various aspects.

A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods. The executable software and data may be stored invarious places including for example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatilememory and/or cache. Portions of this software and/or data may be storedin any one of these storage devices. Further, the data and instructionscan be obtained from centralized servers or peer to peer networks.Different portions of the data and instructions can be obtained fromdifferent centralized servers and/or peer to peer networks at differenttimes and in different communication sessions or in a same communicationsession. The data and instructions can be obtained in entirety prior tothe execution of the applications. Alternatively, portions of the dataand instructions can be obtained dynamically, just in time, when neededfor execution. Thus, it is not required that the data and instructionsbe on a machine readable medium in entirety at a particular instance oftime.

Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile andnon-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removable disks,magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g., Compact DiskRead-Only Memory (CD ROM), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), etc.), amongothers. The computer-readable media may store the instructions.

The instructions may also be embodied in digital and analogcommunication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other formsof propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc. However, propagated signals, such as carrier waves,infrared signals, digital signals, etc. are not tangible machinereadable medium and are not configured to store instructions.

In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism thatprovides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a formaccessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personaldigital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one ormore processors, etc.).

In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combinationwith software instructions to implement the techniques. Thus, thetechniques are neither limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructionsexecuted by the data processing system.

Other Aspects

The description and drawings are illustrative and are not to beconstrued as limiting. The present disclosure is illustrative ofinventive features to enable a person skilled in the art to make and usethe techniques. Various features, as described herein, should be used incompliance with all current and future rules, laws and regulationsrelated to privacy, security, permission, consent, authorization, andothers. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thoroughunderstanding. However, in certain instances, well known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description.References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure are notnecessarily references to the same embodiment; and, such references meanat least one.

The use of headings herein is merely provided for ease of reference, andshall not be interpreted in any way to limit this disclosure or thefollowing claims.

Reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,and are not necessarily all referring to separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, variousfeatures are described which may be exhibited by one embodiment and notby others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may berequirements for one embodiment but not other embodiments. Unlessexcluded by explicit description and/or apparent incompatibility, anycombination of various features described in this description is alsoincluded here. For example, the features described above in connectionwith “in one embodiment” or “in some embodiments” can be all optionallyincluded in one implementation, except where the dependency of certainfeatures on other features, as apparent from the description, may limitthe options of excluding selected features from the implementation, andincompatibility of certain features with other features, as apparentfrom the description, may limit the options of including selectedfeatures together in the implementation.

In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope as set forth in the following claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A thermal imaging system, comprising: at leastone thermal camera assembly disposed in an area to generate images ofthe area; a centralized server disposed at a location remote to thearea, wherein: the server is connected to the at least one thermalcamera assembly via a computer communication network; the thermalimaging system comprising a memory that stores a set of configurationparameters, wherein the set of configuration parameters identifies apre-configured ratio between a size of an image of an item in an imagecoordinate system, the image generated by the thermal camera assembly,and a corresponding height of the item in a real world; wherein thethermal imaging system is configured to: (1) generate the pre-configuredratio during calibration of the thermal imaging system; and (2) computea mounting height of the thermal camera assembly in the real world basedon the pre-configured ratio and a predetermined reference mountingheight of the thermal camera assembly, the reference mounting heightbeing from a mounting location of the thermal camera assembly to areference floor in the image coordinate system; and the thermal imagingsystem is configured to map using the mounting height as computed basedon the ratio between: the size of the image of the item generated by thethermal camera assembly and the corresponding height of the item in thereal world, the mapping performed from the image coordinate system ofimages generated by the thermal camera assembly to a real worldcoordinate system of the area.
 2. The thermal imaging system of claim 1,wherein the set of configuration parameters further identifies points ofinterest in the area in the image coordinate system, wherein the pointsof interest have locations in the images generated by the thermal cameraassembly but not visible in the images generated by the thermal cameraassembly.
 3. The thermal imaging system of claim 2, wherein the thermalimaging system identifies sizes and orientations of objects visible inthe images generated by the thermal camera assembly, based on sizes andorientation of the objects as measured in the images generated by thethermal camera assembly and the set of configuration parameters; and thethermal imaging system generates monitoring alerts provided via anoutput device of the thermal camera assembly in reference to the pointsof interest in the area.
 4. The thermal imaging system of claim 3,wherein the set of configuration parameters includes another mountingheight of the thermal camera assembly above a floor plane of the area,based on a statistical distribution of heights of thermal images ofhumans observed by the thermal camera assembly over a period of time. 5.The thermal imaging system of claim 1, wherein the item is a person; theratio is based on a height of the person measured in the real world anda height of the person measured in the image generated by the thermalcamera assembly; and the thermal imaging system is configured to receivethe height of the person measured in the real world from a userinterface during a calibration operation and capture the image using thethermal camera assembly during the calibration operation.
 6. The thermalimaging system of claim 5, wherein the person is in a vertical positionwhen the thermal camera assembly generates the image during thecalibration operation; and an imaging plane of the thermal cameraassembly is not in parallel with the vertical position of the person. 7.The thermal imaging system of claim 6, wherein the size of the image ofthe item is computed based at least in part on a mounting angle of thethermal camera assembly relative to the vertical position.
 8. Thethermal imaging system of claim 1, wherein the reference mounting heightis smaller than the mounting height as computed.
 9. The thermal imagingsystem of claim 1, wherein the pre-configured ratio is set such that inresponse to a corresponding height of the item in the real worldequaling the size of the image of the item in the image coordinatesystem, the pre-configured ratio equals a ratio between the referencemounting height and the mounting height as computed.